Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Few new jobs in Australia last month

Updated at 5:28 pm on 11 March 2010

Just 400 new jobs were created in Australia during February, but a small fall in the participation rate has kept unemployment roughly steady at 5.3%, up from 5.2%.

A fall in part-time jobs offset a rise in full-time positions, the ABC reports.

The good news for Australia in the Bureau of Statistics survey was that full-time employment increased by 11,400.

Part-time employment bore the brunt of the job losses, down by 11,000.

That means aggregate monthly hours worked increased by 2.4% last month.

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